added extras

I forgot to add a couple of things to my post yesterday. Firstly a couple of weeks ago, around the time of Poe and my birthdays we received a package from our lovely friends Gary, Sarah, Stella and Mira. Stella made a fairy/santa attractor for Poe to hang above his bed and I received a book and this amazing parcel.

Someone had obviously put a lot of time and effort into starting this patchwork quilt but never actually got around to completing it, Sarah spied it in an op shop and thought of me, thank you so much Sarah. I actually don't know exactly what to do with it yet, but I do have some ideas.

Scott created this beautiful sculpture that now adorns Poe's bedroom wall. I love looking at it so much and really enjoy it as it is, but am sorely tempted to weave some embroidery thread around some of the sticks.

I know that I should be cleaning, packing and cooking for our car trip but I threw caution to the wind and whipped up these shorts for Ilo, here he is with his most favoured smiling face and doing a John Johnson pose, a hilarious performer we saw at Peats Ridge Festival last year.

Photo from Peats Ridge Festival

Speaking of Peats Ridge, there is a crowd shot from the 2010 festival that is being used to promote this years festival online, if you look closely you can see Poe on Scott's shoulders watching Washington. Poe has headphones on and a panda face.

Free + stuff

This past week I feel like I have accomplished quite a bit; I have felt inspired, patient and fun as a parent, accomplished quite a bit of nourishing crafting (for myself and others), made some time for me to get a bit fit (and enjoyed it) and scored at and contributed to the Bellingen Free Market, another initiative of Transition Bellingen. The week has also included a few emotional struggles and tears, but I am not going to go into that, life is hard sometimes, even amongst all the fun.   

Some headpieces as commissioned by Jen. 

We were lucky enough to get a big crack in our windscreen to warrant a new one. So whilst at the windscreen repair place Poe scored this awesome cardboard wheel thing out of the skip and we all had a great time watching them remove and then replace our windscreen, that black liquid silicon stuff was pretty impressive. 

We then spent the afternoon pottering, Scott and Vic recorded some vocals for his soon to be completed cd whilst the kids played and I created this doily/tablecloth top. I am really happy with it and delighted at how easy it was to make. Scott has declared it as one of the best things I have ever made, hmmm not too sure about that call, but nevertheless I like it. 

We then, as we do most Fridays headed up to the Lodge, where we enjoyed pesto pasta, pineapple juice and a gin and tonic. 

We picked up this super cool old desk for free at the Free Market along with, 

these crocheted squares (I can't crotchet so I am so excited by the potential of these squares, oh what to do with them, where to start) and 

no not the desk, the chair. I recovered it using some free fabric that I found at one of the famous Bardwell Valley throw-outs, they were seriously great. 

Oh, how I love free stuff, stuff that is given a chance to be loved again, stuff that is given away with the knowledge that the love will be shared. 

Not only did a few of our old bits and pieces find new homes at the Free Market but Scott also gave a couple free guitar lessons.

The desk we bought at a little antique shop near the windscreen repair place. The shop is the most reasonably priced antique shop I have ever come across, I am sure I gasped more than once at how reasonable various items were. It was a really pleasant surprise. 

This little friend was also from the antique shop, an original squirrel nutcracker, we are all just a bit smitten with it. 

Ah the bags are packed and the smiles are getting bigger by the hour, tomorrow afternoon we are heading south. Myself, Poe and Ilo are heading first to my parents for a few days and then to Sydney. Whilst Scott heads even further south to the Harrietville Bluegrass Festival, we are all really, really excited. 

we've been

Cycling with Poe, who has been getting more confident everyday. 

Drawing with fabric crayons.

Loving how cute this bird is, if it didn't kind of also look like an airplane, I would have got a tattoo of it, oh still waiting for the picture that will adorn my arm. 

Loving Ilo's running dialogue as he creates (actually he has a running dialogue all the time). 

Making pancakes on a whim. 

Adoring these curls and the colour of his hair. 

Delighting in what Poe creates with these stunning bamboo blocks. We got them for Poe a while ago from Flying Penguin in Newtown

Enjoying more colours as I hide the majority of my fabrics away in cupboards and delight in the simplicity of the minority. 

Loving seeing the way Poe and Ilo have been playing in their fabric cubby house. Poe decided to sleep in it one night. My mum, the amazing crafter that she is, created this for Poe's 4th birthday. 

WARNING TO CASS, ANOTHER COMMUNITY EVENT COMING UP NEXT.

After all this home time we decided it was time to get loved up by the community (again!). This time was a bit more exclusive as we headed to Chrysalis for a Carnivale. Again, it was really lovely to spend some time at the school, it is very easy to forget you are an adult in such a place, you can easily get caught up in the wonder of it. There was music (yes a bit more drumming, I think Scott started to feel just a little scared), delicious food (prepared and cooked by some of the students) and kids (and parents) running around, dancing, laughing and catching up with friends. 

The Bellingen River Festival

Last Saturday was the inaugural Bellingen River Festival, it was run by Transition Bellingen, with the aim of celebrating the Bellinger River; "creating an opportunity to enjoy, learn about and explore our relationship with our river". A transition town means that "it is a town that is part of a global transition network that aims to build resilience so local communites can survive and even thrive in the face of global challenges like peak oil and climate change", definition from here.
On the day there were workshops, activities, bands, canoe races, lantern making, krathong workshops, weaving, story telling, tree planting and a lantern parade that was simply amazing, but more about that later.
I started the day slowly by going for a massage (not at the festival) and while I was lying face down and trying to still my brain, Scott, Poe and Ilo went busking (also not at the festival), apparently it was amazing with both Poe and Ilo getting right into it. Some favourite tunes amongst the passer-bys were "Spoon full of Sugar", Scott's "Holy Water" and "Chim Chimeree". They made a whooping $25 big ones and then donated half to the Bellingen River Festival and Animal Welfare.

We then rode down to the river and were so excited to see the bridge decorated with lanterns and flags, it looked so beautiful. We met up with friends, laid out the picnic blanket and then went for a little paddle in the river. We ate homemade (not by us) sushi and rice paper rolls, planted a few trees, watched the canoe races, met lots of people we knew and generally enjoyed the beautiful day.

Poe spied an inflatable water slide and after a little jump on the jumping castle got his wetsuit on and went for it. Scott and I were watching and both held our breath as he reached the top, we were so sure he would back out but no, down he went, oh what a thrill. Not sure whether you can see it but his face looks totally terrified as he heads down the slide.

At a certain point we thought it would be a great idea to go home for some dinner and a little rest, before we headed back to the festival for the lantern parade. As we walked in through our gates Scott spied a water dragon near our garden (at the end of our street is a creek, where they usually hang out, but we have never seen one in our backyard before), as we didn't want to freak it out we gave it a wide berth and headed inside. But then Scott, called out "it's laying eggs" YES, can you believe it, it was laying eggs in our garden. So amazing. It then buried the eggs and camouflaged it with some leaves and then scooted under the house for a rest. Apparently the incubation period is a couple of months and then the little dragons (!) hang around for a while before heading to the creek. Has anyone ever experienced this before?

From one magical event to another,  The Lantern Parade. As we cross the bridge we watch as the krathongs,  made out of banana leaves, flowers and candles were placed onto the water.

Then the drumming started, now according to the program, when the drumming starts we had to go to the north side of the bridge and so we did, feeling the excitement welling around us.
A little aside: anyone who knows Scott well, knows that he is not a fan of tribal drums, due largely to five years spent in Byron, where at every party, at every gathering there were tribal drums and fire twirlers. But and yes, it's a big one, these drums worked, they unified people, they created momentum and excitement, they sounded great and what's more they were fun. Scott has amended his dislike of tribal drums to something along the lines of 'they are amazing on the right occasion'. (ie please use sparingly).

A friend of ours, Soli (gorgeous looking human to the left in the picture), astounded us with her drumming prowess.

Then the dancers arrived, which gave everyone even more energy and created even more excitement. 

Lanterns were being lit all around us and slowly we began to dance across the bridge following the dancers and the drummers. 

Oh my goodness it was like a group hug, everywhere you looked you saw different people from the community, some we recognised, some we didn't. But there was everyone and they were all beaming. 

The truly wonderful thing about this festival was that it was just for the Bellingen community, the celebration of our river, us. It wasn't about making money, selling merchandise, it was about celebrating.  In the past week we have had countless chats with people about town who have commented on the beauty of the festival and as they talk you can see the pride in their faces, what a town!

craftiness

dear friends, Edie and Poe

Amidst all the galavanting up mountainsides, down river beds and into bluegrass, I have managed to squeeze just a little crafting in. For our dear friend Edie, who is such a kind, funny, sensitive and fun friend I made this top. Designed to keep Edie's very special arms out of the sun. For the past three years I have been making a top similar to this for Edie and it is always lots of fun to do. Edie, I hope you love this year's version. 

Packed safely next to Edie's top was Ruth's headpiece order. Thanks Ruth, hope you and those five heads love them.

And then I started on some Christmas crafting, oh yes, and it has been really successful and lots of fun. I do however miss my crafty partners in crime.

Oh but I did manage one craft night with the lovely Kelly, who brought along her spinning wheel, she was spinning wool from her Angora rabbit, pretty awesome I say. We also drank tea, ate cake, consumed some delicious homemade rose wine jelly (thanks Kelly) and had some really lovely chats, oh so nourishing. I hope we can make it a regular event. 

Weave is starting to run a craft-in every month on a Saturday afternoon with chai, cake and conversation, so hopefully I will find some more crafty friends.